Airlines and other mobile platform providers, such as companies that provide passenger and/or cargo transportation by bus, train or ship, often maintain travel metrics and fault data during operation of the mobile platform. Metrics data generally include information and data regarding such things as origin and destination information for the mobile platform, passenger information and flight crew information, travel times, fueling information, etc. Fault data generally include data detailing problems with the mobile platform that were detected during the operation of the mobile platform, e.g. a solenoid misfire or the temperature of a component is out of range. Some known mobile platform fault detection and recording systems automatically detect faults that occur and transmit the fault data to a remote central computer system (CCS) where it is stored and made accessible by maintenance crews. Additionally, some known mobile platforms implement electronic travel aids utilized by crew of the mobile platform to enhance ease and efficiency of many tasks performed during operation of the mobile platform.
Furthermore, some mobile platform providers have implemented logbook applications in the electronic travel aids that are utilized by the mobile platform crew to record faults observed during operation of the mobile platform. Such electronic logbooks typically include electronic forms that are utilized by crew onboard the mobile platform during operation of the mobile platform. Typically, the electronic travel aids need to be removed from the mobile platform to download the metric and logbook data to the remote CCS where the data is stored in electronic databases. Recently, some mobile platform providers have implemented software applications that communicate, i.e. download, the data from the electronic travel aids, e.g. metric data and logbook data, to the CCS.
Although the mobile platform fault detection and recording systems accurately and systematically monitor many potential mobile platform faults, there currently is no automated link between the fault detection and recording systems and electronic logbooks. Therefore, the mobile platform crew has to manually complete the electronic forms generated by the logbook application. Such fault data entry tasks are time consuming, prone to errors, and often lack enough detail for efficient mobile platform troubleshooting and repair, which increase maintenance costs and reduce reliability.
Thus, there is need to enable such electronic logbooks to automatically monitor mobile platform fault detection and recording systems, automatically create draft fault reports in the logbooks, and provide the crew with automated messages that a fault report has been automatically generated, whereby the crew can review and verify the fault report.